Preliminary settlement discussion completed in Ayers lawsuit

LAVONIA — A settlement could be in the works in the lawsuit filed by the widow of the Rev. Jonathan Ayers.

Abigail Ayers' attorneys filed an eight-count, $5 million wrongful death lawsuit in March against the Mountain Judicial Narcotics Investigation and Suppression Team, two of its agents and its commander. Stephens County Sheriff Randy Shirley and Habersham County Sheriff Joey Terrell are also defendants.

Jonathan Ayers was fatally shot by agents of the narcotics team Sept. 1 at a Toccoa gas station. Authorities said afterward that the officers wanted to talk to him about his contact with Kayla Barrett, a suspect in a drug investigation. Before dying, Ayers told authorities he did not know the men who shot him were police, but the agents say they identified themselves, according to a Georgia Bureau of Investigation report about the case.

Court documents filed with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia reveal that on Monday, both sides in the lawsuit met for preliminary settlement discussions and said a settlement after the discovery period was not being ruled out as a possibility.

By agreement of both sides, more discussions likely will take place.

Abigail Ayers' attorneys this week also amended the lawsuit, naming Shane Harrison, an officer with the narcotics team, both as an individual and in his official capacities. He had been named only as an individual.

Harrison is the agent who shot Jonathan Ayers.

Also, a new judge, Richard Story, has been named to hear the case in U.S. District Court in Gainesville. William O'Kelley had been the judge. Attorneys have also asked for an extension for completing the discovery phase of the case because of its complexity, and both sides indicated in court documents that it would take about six months to complete their investigations.

So far, no trial date has been set.

A Stephens County grand jury decided in December that the agents involved in the shooting were immune from criminal prosecution and that the shooting was justified.